Addiction
by SarcasticSymphony
Summary: Her heart is broken. There is only one way to ease the pain, and that way is called dreams. HG/DM. Complete.


I am sorry for abandoning Starting Over! It's just that exams are about to take over, and… yeah. I'll update soon, I promise! This is my first time attempting angst, so if you guys would be so nice to give me some pointers…? ;)

Disclaimer: Still playing in J.K. Rowling's sandbox. No profit is made from this story.

* * *

"Draco, I have something to tell you."

"Actually, I do too, Hermione."

"Well… I guess you can go first."

"I have a crush on Astoria."

"Oh."

* * *

She left. Of course, to her room where she immediately silenced and locked the door.

She slid onto the floor, back to the door.

How could it have ended like this?

Why?

She could survive the war, and only have her heart broken… by him.

She had been planning for this moment for months. Ever since she came back for seventh year. Ever since she had known they were to share a common room. Ever since the day she realized she would be seeing his face every morning, every night, every minute.

It haunted her.

She had been so full of childish dreams. Full of the hope, that perhaps, he would accept her. That he would love her. That he would somehow from all the beautiful and accomplished witches he knew, choose her, a plain and boring bookworm, to spend his life with.

" _I have a crush on Astoria."_

No, it was completely different from the fairy tale ending they were supposed to have. It wasn't supposed to end like this. He was supposed to tell her he liked her too, maybe kiss her, even!

What a fool she had been. To think that he would choose a lowly, ugly mudblood duckling over a beautiful, graceful, pureblood swan.

And she reminded herself of reality yet again.

She had dreamed of the day he confessed to her. She had dreamed of the day he proposed to her. She had dreamed of the rainy nights they would spend curled up on the sofa together, perhaps reading a book. She had dreamed of the lazy Sunday afternoons of them spooning in bed together. She had dreamed of their non-existent future.

And all of her dreams turned to ashes the moment he uttered that fateful sentence.

He would never know that she loved the smell of petrichor after rain. He would never know that her favourite subject was Transfiguration, not Arithmancy. He would never know that her favourite day of the year was Christmas. He would never know that her parents were lost to her not because she couldn't restore their memories, but that they had died in a freak car accident two days after she did so.

He would never know her the way she understood him.

She could feel her heart breaking.

The sharp pangs of pain in her chest came as she finally allowed the tears to cascade down her face, as she mourned for what was lost and what could have been, as anguish became all she knew in that moment, and as she lost all hope in dreams and trust in imagination.

So she did what she normally did.

She stood up and staggered to her bedside, reaching for her discarded wand.

She uttered the incantation that would block out the pain.

* * *

 _A misty red haze surrounded her, and through it she could almost see the blurred outlines of their shared common room. The mist cleared, and she stood in the middle of the common room, awaiting his arrival._

 _The door opened, and he slowly descended the stairs, pausing in front of her. He looked immaculate as always, blond hair swept to the side, just a little messy, tailored robes hanging off his lean frame._

 _She opened her mouth to speak._

 _"Draco, I have something to tell you."_

 _"Go on, Hermione."_

 _"I have a crush on you."_

 _She could only make out the smug expression on his face before he swept her up into his arms, and his mouth was on hers._

 _"Silly girl. Why did you wait until now to tell me? I have always loved you."_

 _She smiled into his robes, surrounded by his protective embrace._

* * *

She woke suddenly.

She grasped her wand desperately and uttered the incantation for the Patented Daydream Charm again.

* * *

 _When the rosy-red mist cleared, she found herself in the Great Hall. She descended the steps slowly, silky fabric of her dress robes brushing around her, curls of hair escaping her neat bun. She smiled at all those who stared, but she was nervous. Why?_

 _She watched the couples spinning on the dance floor. Where was he?_

 _She looked for him, stepping through the crowd alone._

 _He was there, standing under a wreath of mistletoe. Her laugh tinkled in the air around them as she ran to him and he pulled her into his arms, so that they were both trapped under the mistletoe._

 _"You'll have to save me now, minx."_

 _"Gladly, Draco."_

 _Their lips met._

* * *

 _"Amore Somnia."_

* * *

 _They were by the Black Lake, mat spread under them as they stared up at the sky together._

 _"Hermione, do you love me?"_

 _She turned to face him._

 _"Unconditionally, Draco."_

 _"Will you marry me?"_

 _She pressed the back of her hand to her mouth as tears rolled down her face._

 _"Yes."_

* * *

 _"Amore Somnia."_

* * *

 _She held a puppy in her arms. It wriggled and barked as he scratched it between the ears._

 _"Draco, it's so cute. Can we keep it?"_

 _"Hm."_

 _She pressed her mouth to his in a fierce kiss._

 _"Can we keep it, Draco?"_

 _"Yes, temptress."_

* * *

 _"Amore Somnia."_

* * *

 _His arms curled around her, holding her close to him. She snuggled into his warm chest, smiling as he pointed at a sentence on the book he held in front of them._

 _"These dunderheaded imbeciles don't even know the difference between Alihotsy leaves and Goosegrass, Hermione! Please don't ever read this book again."_

 _She giggled and swatted at his chest, pretending to be stern. "What I read does not concern you, Draco Malfoy."_

 _He arched an eyebrow at her. "Does it, Granger?"_

 _His fingers crept under her ribs, then he tackled her onto the ground._

 _She laughed and struggled underneath him._

 _"Okay, I surrender! It is a bad book anyway."_

 _He grinned smugly at her before enveloping her in his embrace yet again._

* * *

 _"Amore Somnia."_

* * *

 _"I promise to annoy you when you're sad, to cheer you up when you're angry, to care for you forevermore, to be your listening audience when you rant, and to love all your little quirks, and most importantly, love you without measure._

 _"I love you, Hermione Granger."_

And she woke again.

* * *

*hands you some tissues*

*you push them away because you are a strong independent person who doesn't need a sarcasticsymphony to tell you when to cry*

* * *

To the guest reviewer: I would just like to clear this up. In this fic, I did not specifically mention the fact that Draco, Astoria or Daphne were beautiful. If I did, it must be understood that as Draco is Hermione's crush, and it is reasonable to think that he is beautiful from Hermione's point of view. I'm sorry if you didn't like this, and thank you for offering your opinion of this story.


End file.
